Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. —Psalm 55:22
I was her friend. I had come to pray, to encourage, to be present as a witness to the Truth against the lies and the fiery darts that were being hurled at her soul. I sat on the edge of the recliner listening to her sobs and prayed. I prayed against the threat and I prayed for the threatened. I prayed for wisdom and a way to manifest the Truth.
She cried. I prayed. The Lord spoke. Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. I went to the desk and found two pieces of paper, some tape, and a pen. On the one small piece of paper I wrote, simply, “THE LORD.” Then I went into the kitchen.
Walking softly I stepped to the cabinets and taped “THE LORD” to the silverware drawer.
Then I stepped to my friend.
"I cannot explain why this sudden cloud of darkness has descended on your life or why this is the battle you have to fight, but I know this. You are not alone. God stands with you to take this burden from you, but you have to give it to him."
"How? How do I give it to him? How do I do that?"
"The Bible says, ‘Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.’ See that drawer over there? That is ‘THE LORD.’ Here is a piece of paper and a pen. When you are ready, write down the deepest fear that threatens you, open the drawer, stand back a little ways, and throw your fear into the drawer. Cast your burden on the Lord. The fear may not dissipate in an instant, but you will know that you have cast it on the Lord. You will also know that if you want to carry this burden yourself, all you have to do is retrieve it from the drawer. You can carry it and weep, or cast it and trust. The choice will be yours. ‘THE LORD’ will carry your burden and never even notice the weight, be entirely unaffected by the nature of what you write. ‘THE LORD’ will never tire of carrying your burden and ask you to take it back. You will only ever have to carry it again if you retrieve it. That is the nature of the grace God offers you through this promise."
I handed her the pen and the paper, kissed her softly on the cheek, and returned to the living room to wait. Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Over and over I prayed these words and waited. About half an hour later my friend came into the room. Her tears were dry and there was a new look of relief on her face.
It had taken her time to decide she could actually release the burden weighing on her soul and trust God as He was inviting her to do. Finally she wrote her fear on the paper, stood back, and tossed it into the drawer. She expressed her trust that God would care for her, lead her, protect her, love her, and carry her burden.
In the days following she would, from time to time, open the drawer and look, assuring herself that her burden was still there, still taken and held by the Lord. Over time other burdens joined the first, but the first, and the others, were never removed from the drawer.
Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Casting does not include retrieving, but it does include trust in the unwavering capacity of Almighty God to love us without limit and despite the burdens we ask Him to carry. That is His gracious invitation to each of us, to all of us: to trust Him, to throw ourselves upon His merciful and mighty shoulders and know with certainty we who cast our burdens on Him will never be cast away.
For Reflection
Is there a burden you are carrying that you need to cast on the Lord?
What tools can you use to avoid “picking up” the burden again?
Are you being called to help a friend in this area? How can you help someone trust the Lord with their burdens?